The universally recognized recycling symbol with three chasing arrows is a Möbius strip or unending loop.
In 1969 and early 1970, worldwide attention to environmental issues reached a crescendo, culminating in the first Earth Day. In response, then Chicago-based Container Corporation of America, a large producer of recycled paperboard which is now part of Stone-Smurfit Corp. (St. Louis), sponsored a contest for art and design students at high schools and colleges across the country. As a 23-year-old college student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Gary Anderson won the contest, and, by doing so, graphically helped push recycling forward. Because of the symbol’s simplicity and clarity, it became widely used worldwide, and now is as common as the Nike "swoosh" and the Coca-Cola lettering.
The Möbius loop symbol is in the public domain, and is not a trademark. The CCA originally applied for a trademark on the design, but the application was challenged, and the corporation decided to abandon the claim. As such, anyone is free to use the recycling symbol, although local laws may restrict its use in product labeling - such as, for example, when its use on non-recycled goods would be misleading and/or deceptive.